Another angle on waiving Ellis

Sometimes one needs to take a look at a situation from a second (or third, fourth, etc.) perspective before one "gets it." For me, that's the case in reading Ted Kulfan's take as to why the Detroit Red Wings waived Matt Ellis--a reason named Mark Hartigan:

February 22, Detroit News: Hartigan essentially replaces Matt Ellis, who was waived and picked up Thursday by the Kings. Hartigan, who has one goal in eight games with the Wings, has more offensive skill than Ellis (two goals, six points in 35 games).

"We think he (Hartigan) has a good skill level," Babcock said. "(Ellis) was in a situation where I wasn't using him. Now he goes to L.A. and tries to win a job with them.

"He wasn't fitting in on a regular basis. We loved him as a guy, his work ethic and determination. He'll play in the NHL for a long time because he's so determined. (But) he was getting less and less opportunity here. It was a tough decision because of the quality of man he was."

Hartigan leads the Griffins in scoring with 23 goals and 42 points in 48 AHL games (which places him in 38th place on the AHL's list of top scorers). Hartigan's up for the third time this season, and he told the Macomb Daily's Bruce MacLeod that he's determined to stick:

February 22, Macomb Daily: "Your main objective is to be up here and whenever you get that chance you're going to take it," Hartigan said. "It's a litter bitter sweet, but a little more sweet.

"It was nice to get the call to come back up," Hartigan added. "Once again I've just got to try and take advantage of it."

The move kind of took Hartigan by surprise since forward is one of the positions the Wings have some depth at.

"Before I've been called up due to injuries," Hartigan said. "I'm just happy to be here.""